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Facebook to Start Showing Ads Across the Web

Last week, social media giant Facebook announced that they would begin showing ads to all internet users, irrelevant of whether or not they have an account on the site.

Up to now, the company has been gathering data about users, including their browsing habits and what websites they are visiting. This allows them to display more relevant adverts depending on your interests and likes, so that you are much more likely to buy.

Facebook will soon use cookies and plugins to track not only people using the platform, but users from all around the web. The ads will then be shown to anyone that visits the 3rd party websites that are part of Facebook’s “Audience Network” ad scheme.

The company’s vice president of ads, Andrew Bosworth, told the Wall Street Journal; “Our buttons and plugins send over basic information about users’ browsing sessions. For non-Facebook members, previously we didn’t use it. Now we’ll use it to better understand how to target those people.”

“Because we have a core audience of over a billion people who we do understand, we have a greater opportunity than other companies using the same type of mechanism.”

Despite claims that they are trying to better the experience for online users, there is no doubt that Facebook will receive criticism for their latest move. In the past they have been in trouble with many EU countries regarding the tracking of data and use of personal information.

Would you be happy for Facebook to track your data, even if you don’t use Facebook? Let us know your thoughts on Facebook or Twitter.